Scars
by Alaya Jenkins
Summary: !TRIGGER WARNING!: Mentions of abuse. One shot. Sirius, James, and Peter have noticed that Remus goes to visit sick family a lot. And every time he comes back, he's covered in a fresh set of scars. Determined to protect their friend, the boys set out to get to the bottom of what's going on.


Sirius sighed as he watched Remus walk out of the Gryffindor common room. The boy moved stiffly, like he was in pain, like he was scared, and it hurt Sirius's heart to think that one of his best friends was suffering. Something niggled in the back of his mind though. Sirius knew abuse. Merlin, he'd been abused for as long as he could remember (although he'd only found out last year, when, with a shocked voice, James had told him that _'no, Sirius, it wasn't normal for your parents to use_ crucio _on you, no matter what you'd done.')_ Was it possible that… no, it couldn't be, he'd _met_ the Lupin's, and they seemed like wonderful people. Then again, sometimes the nicest people could do the wickedest of things.

"You alright mate?" James asked, looking concerned and snapping Sirius out of his line of thought.

"Yeah, course." Sirius replied, though he sounded unsure.

"What's up?" James asked, turning his attention away from the book he was studying from.

"It's just… well, Rem looks so scared every time he has to go see his family, and he's got all those scars, and I'm just wondering if- if he's being like…" Sirius trailed off and rubbed his hands wearily over his face.

"If he's being what?" James pressed Sirius for an answer.

"If he's being, well, you know, if he's being abused." Sirius looked down on the last word, feeling slightly embarrassed. He knew James and Peter associated the word with him and his family, but now he wasn't so sure who Remus associated it with.

"Bloody hell mate." Peter joined the conversation. "That's heavy."

"But it makes sense, though." James said.

"And it explains the scars. The only other person I've seen with nearly as many scars as that is you." Peter winced sympathetically as he made that observation. Sirius took a deep breath, trying to fight the tight feeling in his chest and throat. If Remus was being abused, they had to help him. "But we've met Hope and Lyall. They're nothing like your mum and dad. They're really _nice._ "

"I know. But come on man, he isn't just magically gaining scars. Something's got to be causing them." Sirius pointed out.

"Ok, we need a plan. We need to try and find out what's going on. But be subtle about it." Peter suggested.

"Good idea." James said. "He'll be back tomorrow morning. Let's see how he is and go from there."

None of the boys slept much that night. They lay awake in their beds, thinking things over, worrying for their best friend. James, fiercely protective James, was already thinking about how to ask his mum and dad if they could adopt yet another marauder (once he'd realised what was going on with Sirius, James had immediately taken action, informing Sirius that he could use the floo network to come to his house if things got too bad. Sirius spent a lot of his time with the Potters.)

Sirius lay awake thinking about how awful living with his family was, and how lucky he was to be able to escape to the Potter household at any given moment. He had a support system. Did Remus? Did he know how much he was loved? Did he know that he didn't have to put up with the pain, especially not all on his own? Remus didn't deserve to be hurt. To Sirius, Remus deserved the world. He was a gentle soul, but he had a wicked sense of humour and was great at pranks and Sirius loved him for that. Sirius Black loved Remus Lupin with all his heart, perhaps more than he loved James Potter.

Peter felt an overwhelming sense of anger that kind, gentle Remus could be being hurt. It had been Remus who'd approached him, who'd invited him into the Marauders group. And ever since then, he'd felt eternally grateful. Peter hadn't felt like he belonged in Gryffindor when he was sorted. He thought he would have been better suited to Hufflepuff. He considered himself fiercely loyal, he wasn't afraid to admit that. He didn't, however, consider himself to be all that brave, or all that reckless, but Remus had helped change that. And Peter would be eternally grateful for all the opportunities he'd had since Remus had welcomed him, and introduced him to Sirius and James, who he wouldn't have even _dreamed_ of approaching all on his own. If someone was hurting Remus, they needed to pay.

Morning broke, and sunlight streamed through the window of the Marauders' dormitory. James sat up first, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He slowly got out of bed, shivering slightly as his body adjusted to the temperature change from his warm bed to the chillier surroundings of the dorm. He walked towards the bathroom and showered, still lost in worry for his friend.

James emerged from the steam filled bathroom to see Sirius sat on his bed, his head in his hands. He pulled on a t-shirt, already wearing jeans, and sat next to Sirius, putting an arm around the boy's shoulders. "You alright?" He asked quietly. Sirius said nothing, but James could feel his shoulders moving as he sobbed silently. James pulled him closer, and Sirius turned and began to sob into his chest. James stroked Sirius's hair gently, and soon he was joined by a barely awake Peter, who sat the other side of Sirius and patted him awkwardly, mumbling comforting things. Gradually, Sirius's sobs turned to hiccups, which in turn changed to a quiet sniffling. He pulled away from James's embrace.

"Sorry." Sirius said bluntly.

"Don't be." James said.

"Yeah, it's okay." Peter chimed in. "You wanna talk about it?" Sirius inhaled deeply.

"I just hate the idea that people are hurting Remus like… like my parents hurt me." Sirius didn't like talking about his home situation, as James and Peter very well knew. Both boys were aware that this was a big thing for him to say to them. But maybe, maybe helping Remus, if Remus was being abused, would help him.

"I know." James said. He didn't want to say that he got it, or that he understood, because he didn't. Not fully. His parents had never hurt him like that, they'd never performed unforgivable curses on him. But he too hated the idea that what happened to Sirius could also be happening to Remus. Sirius stood. "I'm going to go get dressed."

"Me too." Peter said.

"Alright. I'll come get you if Rem comes back." James promised. Sirius and Peter flashed him jaunty half smiles, and left the dorm.

Remus still hadn't come back by second period. It was lunchtime now, and the boys were headed to the Great Hall. "One sec." Peter said, halting the boys. "I want to go see Hylla. She fainted this morning and Jess took her to Madame Pomfrey." Hylla was Peter's, well, girlfriend wasn't the right word. They weren't _officially_ dating, although Remus had caught them once, snogging by the Black Lake.

"Alright mate." Sirius said. "We'll wait for you in the Great Hall?" Peter nodded at this arrangement, and headed into the hospital ward.

"I don't know what Pete sees in Hylla. She's got the personality of an angry hippogriff." James said.

"I know." Sirius chuckled. "But they do seem to like each other."

"Yeah." James agreed. Just as they turned away from the door of the Hospital Ward, Peter backed out of the room, frowning.

"That was quick." James said, laughing slightly.

"What?" Peter asked, appearing lost in a train of thought.

"I said- never mind." James shook his head, looking at Peter fondly. "Pete? What's wrong?"

"Er, Remus is in there."

"What?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Remus is-"

"I know what you said, Pete." Sirius interrupted him. "Is he alright? Is he hurt?"

"I don't know." Peter told him.

"If this is his parents, I'll kill them." Sirius muttered, to himself mainly. "Come on, let's go see him." James grabbed Sirius's arm.

"Are you sure that's a good idea mate? Maybe he doesn't want us to see him if he's injured." James pointed out. A doubtful look flitted across Sirius's face, but it was quickly replaced with a look of steely decision.

"Yes. I'm sure." Sirius said through gritted teeth.

"Alright." James relented.

Remus jumped as the door to the Hospital Wing was flung open. His eyes widened as he saw an angry looking Sirius Black. He accidently made eye contact with the boy. _'Shit.'_ Remus thought. No turning back now. He couldn't hide. He felt panic rise in his chest as he watched Sirius run towards his bed, quickly followed by James and Peter. "Hi." Remus began to speak, but was cut off as Sirius threw his arms around him. He hissed slightly in pain, having taken a large chunk of skin off his shoulder during his moonlit adventures last night. Sirius heard him and withdrew from the hug quickly.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you." Sirius exclaimed, his voice laced with guilt. Remus chuckled.

"You didn't. It's alright." Sirius sat at the end of Remus's bed. Remus felt a sharp pain in his recently broken ankle that Poppy hadn't had a chance to heal yet, but didn't react. James and Peter sat on the chairs next to his bed. Remus was properly panicking now. He didn't have a cover story prepared as he never planned to get caught in this position.

"Remus, mate, what happened?" James asked, and Remus felt his throat begin to close.

"Um, well…"

"Are you alright if I tell them, Remus?" Poppy asked, appearing out of nowhere. Oh Merlin, was she going to tell them what he was?

"Tell them what?" Remus asked, really hoping she wouldn't out him to his closest friends. He loved Hogwarts, he didn't want to leave. Madame Poppy began addressing Peter, Sirius, and James.

"Remus has a condition." She began. Remus felt tears spring to his eyes. He had _trusted_ Madame Pomfrey, and now she was going to ruin his life. He went to cut her off, but she held up a hand, commanding silence. "It's called fibromyalgia. Remus came to me this morning as soon as he got back from his parents, as his chronic pain was playing up. I said he could stay here and rest. In fact, I'm just brewing a potion to help with the pain." Remus felt his shoulders visibly relaxed, and felt slightly bad for doubting the woman who healed him after every terrible full moon.

"Oh." Was all James said in reply. Sirius looked at the ground, and Peter looked at Madame Pomfrey. "Ok."

"Now, I'm going to get back to my potion. You boys can stay with Remus, but don't ask him too many questions. He's tired, and my patient needs to be relaxed if he is to feel any better." Madame Pomfrey explained. Remus smiled gratefully at her. Madame Pomfrey turned to leave, but Sirius stopped her.

"If it's only chronic pain, then how come he's covered in fresh cuts?" He asked. Poppy had to think on her feet. She ran through a list of symptoms for fibromyalgia, and remembered one that could explain this whole situation away.

"Fibromyalgia can cause dizziness and clumsiness. As Remus made his way up to the hospital wing, he was hit by a dizzy spell and fell down a flight of stairs. Professor McGonagall found him and brought him straight to me." Sirius nodded. This explanation seemed to be suffice for him. "Now, I really must go." Poppy informed the boys.

"See you later, Poppy." Remus said. "Thanks for explaining all that. I couldn't be bothered to." The boys all looked at Remus, so they didn't see Poppy wink at him with a smile on her face. The boys' gazes were filled with concern and sympathy.

"Rem, why didn't you just tell us?" Peter asked.

"It didn't really seem important." Remus said, bashfully.

"Mate, if you're struggling, you just need to tell us. We're all ready to help you." Sirius told Remus, a serious look on his face.

"Yeah." James nodded in agreement. Remus felt a smile tug at his lips. They may not know what he was, and they might hate him if they ever found out, but these people, _his_ people, were so, so kind. And Remus loved them with all his heart.

"It seems silly now, but we thought… well, we thought you were being abused." Peter said. A bark of laughter escaped from Remus's mouth, but he saw that no one else was laughing. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"That's really kind of you guys to worry about me, but I promise you that I'm not being abused. I'd tell you if I was."

"Promise?" Sirius asked.

"Promise." Remus said firmly. The four boys sat in silence for a bit before James sighed, and grinned at Remus.

"So when do you think you'll be out?" He asked.

"Oh, probably by the end of today. Seriously guys, I'm alright, I just hurt a bit."

"Okay." Sirius said. "We'll see you later?" he asked.

"Yup." Remus told him. "See you later." Peter patted Remus on the shoulder as he stood. James and Peter said goodbye, and the three boys left a tired looking Remus in the hospital wing.

"Is it just me, or did it seem like Remus was lying?" Peter asked when they were out of the room and out of earshot.

"Yeah." Sirius agreed. "But I don't think the school would let him visit his parents if they even _suspected_ that he was being abused."

"No, it's gotta be something else." James agreed. "And we're going to find out what."

 ** _A/N- Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed this. Don't forget to review! Thanks for reading this little one shot I had based off an idea suggested by remusjblack on instagram for a competition. I thought I'd upload it up here just because it's some new content. Please review and let me know what you think!_**


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